Laois 1-20
Galway 0-8
Tomás Ó Flatharta was satisfied with the continued progress made by Laois, as they blitzed a hapless Galway in Portlaoise Saturday night, but insisted that there was no reason to get carried away.
Ó Flatharta's men suffered a heavy defeat to Donegal in the first round but have bounced back now with two wins and this effort against his former charges was an indication that they are moving in the right direction.
'Further improvement'
"It was a good performance" said the Kerry native. "It was an improvement from the Donegal game and a further improvement on the Louth game and that's really what we've been looking for since we started.
“We spoke about [intensity] throughout the week and I think they were relentless throughout the game. They worked very hard for each other all over the field.”
Only two points separated the sides when Kevin Meaney goaled in the 31st minute and it was 1-7 to 0-5 at half-time.
Donie Kingston had shown very well in the first half and continued to do so in the second, until having his day cut short by a black card at the three-quarter mark.
The long-serving Ross Munnelly also stood out but Laois were superior all over the pitch and, with the wind at their backs, they added 13 second-half points.
LAOIS:
G Brody; R Kehoe, M Timmons, P O'Leary; D Strong (0-2, 0-1 free), P Begley, P McMahon; K Meaney (1-1), J O'Loughlin (0-1); J Finn (0-1), C Begley, B Sheehan (0-1); R Munnelly (0-4, 0-2 frees), D Kingston (0-4, 0-2 frees), D Conway (0-2, 0-1 free). Subs: D Booth for Kehoe (47 mins), E O'Carroll for Kingston (BC, 53 mins), G Walsh (0-3) for Conway (58 mins), P Kingston for Finn, A Ryan (0-1) for Begley (both 66 mins), D O'Connor for O'Leary (69 mins).
GALWAY:
M Breathnach; D O'Neill, J Moore, J Duane; G O'Donnell (0-1), P Varley, G Bradswhaw; F Ó Curraoin, T Flynn; G Sice, S Armstrong (0-2, 0-1 free), J Kavanagh; E Concannon (0-1), P Conroy (0-2), A Varley (0-1). Subs: K Kelly for Duane (20 mins), D O'Connell for Kavanagh (42 mins), D Cummin for Concannon (46 mins), G Higgins for Flynn, C Mulryan for Bradshaw (both 55 mins), E Hoare (0-1) for Ó Curraoin (60 mins).
Referee:
A Nolan (Wicklow).